sanctions were put in place in 1997 andsanctions were only loosened in july of this year. senator mcconnell later became one of aung san suu kyi's chief advocates in the senate and we continued to work on behalf of the people in burma. in 2003, following an assassination attempt, senator mcconnell and i worked to pass an important and that remains in -- that remainsban in place today, an effort to bring about further reform. and i must say, burma is extremely lucky to have a champion mike aung san suu kyi. -- like on songs hoochy like aung san suu kyi -- like aung san suu kyi. in the face of violence, harassment, intimidation, she has never wavered in her pursuit of human rights. she celebrates the release of political prisoners, including the approximately 90 released this week, but she remains true to those still behind bars, estimated to be around twothis woman sacrifice years of her life to bring about these changes. she is truly an inspiration to the world. you are so well deserving of this gold medal. i can only begin to express my happiness that we are able to prese